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The economic analysis of product diversity

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Author Info
Heritiana Ranaivoson () (MATISSE)
Abstract

Product diversity is a long-debated issue in economics. We remind that mainly two questions have been given answers : (a) To which extent does the market provide diversity ? (b) Why should this diversity be promoted ? The first one stands out as the core of most articles on product diversity, whereas the second one is more evoked than really deepened. However, the economic analysis of product diversity stands out as a paradox. Actually, the definition of diversity itself has been somewhat forgotten. We try to give ways to overcome this absence so that product diversity can eventually be concretely assessed.

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Publisher Info
Paper provided by Université Panthéon-Sorbonne (Paris 1) in its series Cahiers de la Maison des Sciences Economiques with number r05083.

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Length: 20 pages
Date of creation: Dec 2005
Date of revision:
Handle: RePEc:mse:wpsorb:r05083

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Related research
Keywords: Product diversity; theory of consumer choice; monopolistic competition.;

Find related papers by JEL classification:
D11 - Microeconomics - - Household Behavior - - - Consumer Economics: Theory
D43 - Microeconomics - - Market Structure and Pricing - - - Oligopoly and Other Forms of Market Imperfection
L13 - Industrial Organization - - Market Structure, Firm Strategy, and Market Performance - - - Oligopoly and Other Imperfect Markets

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References listed on IDEAS
Please report citation or reference errors to , or , if you are the registered author of the cited work, log in to your RePEc Author Service profile, click on "citations" and make appropriate adjustments.:
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    Other versions:
  3. Suen, Wing, 1991. "The Value of Product Diversity," Oxford Economic Papers, Oxford University Press, vol. 43(2), pages 217-23, April. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
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    Other versions:
  6. Steven C. Salop, 1979. "Monopolistic Competition with Outside Goods," Bell Journal of Economics, The RAND Corporation, vol. 10(1), pages 141-156, Spring. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  7. Weitzman, Martin L, 1994. "Monopolistic Competition with Endogenous Specialization," Review of Economic Studies, Blackwell Publishing, vol. 61(1), pages 45-56, January. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
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    Other versions:
  13. Silverberg, Gerald & Dosi, Giovanni & Orsenigo, Luigi, 1988. "Innovation, Diversity and Diffusion: A Self-organisation Model," Economic Journal, Royal Economic Society, vol. 98(393), pages 1032-54, December. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
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    Other versions:
  17. Stern, Nicholas, 1972. "The optimal size of market areas," Journal of Economic Theory, Elsevier, vol. 4(2), pages 154-173, April. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
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